The Gospel of Judas is a Gnostic gospel. The Codex Tchacos is an ancient Egyptian Coptic papyrus document containing early Christian Gnostic texts: The Gospel of Judas The First Apocalypse of James The Letter of Peter to Philip A fragment of Allogenes It is important because it contains the first known surviving text of the Gospel of Judas... The Cainites, or Cainians, were a Gnostic and Antinomian sect who were known to worship Cain as the first victim of the Demiurge Jehovah, the Old Testament God, who was identified by many groups of gnostics as evil. ... Sethian is also a Finnish progressive metal band. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... The Gnostic Gospels are a class of writings about the life of Jesus which are associated with the early mystical trend of Gnostic Christianity. ...

The document is not claimed to have been written by apostle Judas Iscariot himself, but rather by Gnostic followers of Jesus Christ. It exists in an early fourth century Coptic text, though it has been proposed, but not proven, that the text is a translation of an earlier Greek version. The Gospel of Judas is probably from no earlier than the second century, since it contains theology that is not represented before the second half of the second century, and since its introduction and epilogue assume the reader is familiar with the canonical Gospels. The Twelve Apostles (in Koine Greek απόστολος apostolos [1], someone sent forth/sent out, an emissary) were probably Galilean Jewish men (10 names are Aramaic, 4 names are Greek) chosen from among the disciples, who were sent forth by Jesus of Nazareth to preach the Gospel to both Jews and Gentiles... For the American black metal band, see Judas Iscariot (band). ... Gnosticism is a blanket term for various religions and sects most prominent in the first few centuries A.D. General characteristics The word gnosticism comes from the Greek word for knowledge, gnosis (γνῶσις), referring to the idea that there is special, hidden mysticism (esoteric knowledge... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Coptic is the most recent phase of ancient Egyptian. ...

According to the canonical Gospels of the New Testament, (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), Judas betrayed Jesus to Jerusalem's Great Sanhedrin, which officiated over the crucifixion of Jesus with the endorsement of representatives of the occupying power, the Roman Empire. The Gospel of Judas, on the other hand, portrays Judas in a very different perspective than do the Gospels of the New Testament, according to a preliminary translation made in early 2006 by the National Geographic Society: the Gospel of Judas appears to interpret Judas's act not as betrayal, but rather as an act of obedience to the instructions of Jesus. This portrayal seems to conform to a notion, current in some forms of Gnosticism, that the human form is a spiritual prison, and that Judas thus served Christ by helping to release Christ's spirit from its physical constraints. A biblical canon is a list published by a religious authority of those books of the Bible that are considered inspired by God. ... John 21:1 Jesus Appears to His Disciples--Alessandro Mantovani: the Vatican, Rome. ... The Gospel of Matthew (literally, according to Matthew; Greek, Κατά Μαθθαίον or Κατά Ματθαίον) is one of the four Gospel accounts of the New Testament. ... The Gospel of Mark (anonymous[1] but ascribed to Mark the Evangelist) is a Gospel of the New Testament. ... The Gospel of Luke is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament, which tell the story of Jesus life, death, and resurrection. ... The Gospel of John is the fourth gospel in the canon of the New Testament, traditionally ascribed to John the Evangelist. ... This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ... The Sanhedrin is the name given in the mishna to the council of seventy-one Jewish sages who constituted the supreme court and legislative body in Judea during the Roman period. ... Motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus (SPQR) The Roman Empire at its greatest extent, c. ... Flag of the National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, is a not-for-profit scientific organization based in the United States. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

The Gospel of Judas does not claim that the other disciples knew gnostic teachings. On the contrary, it asserts that the disciples had not learned the true Gospel, which Jesus taught only to Judas Iscariot. In Christianity, the disciples were the students of Jesus during his ministry. ...

Background

Part of a series on Gnosticism

History of Gnosticism This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Image File history File links Simple_crossed_circle. ... The History of Gnosticism is subject to a great deal of debate and interpretation. ...

Gnosticism Mandaeism Manichaeism This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Mandaeism or Mandaeanism (Mandaic: mandaiuta) is a blanket term for the religion of the Mandaeans (Classical Mandaic mandaiia, Neo-Mandaic Mandeyānā) who are the followers of Mendā d-Heyyi (Mandaic manda Knowledge of Life). Mandaeism is a monotheistic religion practiced primarily in southern Iraq and the Iranian province of... Manichean priests, writing at their desk, with panel inscription in Sogdian. ...

Syrian-Egyptic Gnosticism Sethians Thomasines Valentinians Basilideans Syrian-Egyptian Gnostic Schools were ancient Gnostic sects from around the middle east, with some Judaic influences. ... Sethian is also a Finnish progressive metal band. ... Thomas, also called St. ... Valentinius, more usually called Valentinus (c. ... The Basilideans were a Gnostic sect founded by Basilides of Alexandria in the 2nd century. ...

Fathers of Christian Gnosticism Simon Magus Cerinthus Valentinus The death of Simon Magus. ... Simon Magus, also known as Simon the Sorcerer and Simon of Gitta, is the name used by the ancient Christian Orthodoxy to refer to someone they identified as a Samaritan (Proto-)Gnostic, and, also according to ancient Christian Orthodoxy, founder of his own religious sect. ... Cerinthus was the leader of a late first-century or early 2nd century sect, an offshoot of the Ebionites yet similar to Gnosticism in some respects, interesting in that it demonstrates the wide range of conclusions that could be drawn from the life and teachings of Jesus. ... This article is about the Gnostic Valentinus. ...

Early Gnosticism Ophites Cainites Carpocratians Borborites Thomasines Early Gnosticism Ophites Cainites Carpocratians Borborites Thomasines ... The Ophites is a blanket term for numerous gnostic sects in Syria and Egypt about 100 A.D. The common trait was that these sects would give great importance to the serpent of the biblical tale of Adam and Eve, connecting the Tree of Knowledge (of Good and Evil) to... The Cainites, or Cainians, were a Gnostic and Antinomian sect who were known to worship Cain as the first victim of the Demiurge Jehovah, the Old Testament God, who was identified by many groups of gnostics as evil. ... Carpocrates was an early Gnostic from sometime in the second century A.D. who was mentioned by Clement of Alexandria in the Mar Saba letter discovered in 1958 by ancient historian Morton Smith. ... According to Epiphanius of Salamis book Panarion/Adversus Haereses chapter xxv, xxvi and Theodorets Haereticarum Fabularum Compendium the borborites (or barbelos, barbelites, phibionites, stratiotici, coddians etc) were a extraordinarily filthy and evil Gnostic ophite sect. ... ...

Medieval Gnosticism Paulicianism Tondrakians Bogomilism Bosnian Church Catharism Paulicianism was a Gnostic and Manichaean Christian sect that florished between 650 and 872 in Anatolia, outgoing from Armenia and the Eastern Themes of the Byzantine Empire. ... Tondrakians were members of an anti-feudal, heretical Christian sect that flourished in medieval Armenia between the early 9th century and 11th century and centered around the city of Tondrak, north of Lake Van. ... Bogomilism is the Gnostic dualistic sect, the synthesis of Armenian Paulicianism and the local Slavonic Church reform movement in Bulgaria and Bosnia-Herzegovina between 950 and 1396. ... The Bosnian Church (crkva bosanska, ecclesia bosnensis) is historically thought to be an indigenous branch of the Bogomils which existed in Bosnia during in the Middle Ages. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Cathar. ...

Gnosticism in modern times Gnosticism in popular culture This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... // Literature Harold Bloom explores Gnosticism in his novel The Flight to Lucifer: A Gnostic Fantasy, and, with William Golding, traces Gnosticism in American beliefs in The American Religion: The Emergence of the Post-Christian Nation. ...

Gnostic texts Nag Hammadi library Codex Tchacos Gnosticism and the New Testament Gnosticism used a number of religious texts that are preserved, in part or whole, in ancient manuscripts or are lost but mentioned critically in Patristic writings. ... The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts discovered near the Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. ... The Codex Tchacos is an ancient Egyptian Coptic papyrus document containing early Christian Gnostic texts: The Gospel of Judas The First Apocalypse of James The Letter of Peter to Philip A fragment of Allogenes It is important because it contains the first known surviving text of the Gospel of Judas... This article discusses the relationship between Gnosticism and the New Testament. ...

Related Articles Gnosis Pythagoreanism Neoplatonism and Gnosticism Esoteric Christianity Theosophy This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Bust of Pythagoras Pythagoreanism is a term used for the esoteric and metaphysical beliefs held by Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans, who were much influenced by mathematics and probably a main inspirational source for Plato and platonism. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Esoteric Christianity refers to the esoteric knowledge of Christian mysticism which adherents view as the inner teachings of early Christianity, seen as a Mystery religion. ... Emblem of the Theosophical Society (Adyar) described at [1] Theosophy, literally wisdom of the divine (in the Greek language), designates several bodies of ideas. ... This box: view • talk • edit

During the second and third centuries AD, various Christian sects composed texts which are loosely labeled New Testament Apocrypha; these texts are usually but not always “pseudo-anonymous”, i.e. falsely attributed to a notable figure, such as an apostle, of an earlier era. In the process of determining the Biblical canon, a large number of works were excluded from the New Testament. ...

The text is extant in only one manuscript, a fourth century Coptic manuscript known as the Codex Tchacos, which surfaced in the 1970s, after about sixteen centuries in the desert of Egypt as a leather-bound papyrus manuscript. The existing manuscript was radiocarbon dated "between the third and fourth century", according to Timothy Jull, a carbon-dating expert at the University of Arizona's physics centre. Only sections of papyrus with no text were carbon dated. The Codex Tchacos is an ancient Egyptian Coptic papyrus document containing early Christian Gnostic texts: The Gospel of Judas The First Apocalypse of James The Letter of Peter to Philip A fragment of Allogenes It is important because it contains the first known surviving text of the Gospel of Judas... Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring isotope carbon-14 (14C) to determine the age of carbonaceous materials up to about 60,000 years[1]. Raw, i. ... The University of Arizona (UA or U of A) is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. ...

The papyri on which the Gospel is written is now in over a thousand pieces, possibly due to poor handling and storage, with many sections missing. In some cases, there are only scattered words; in others, many lines. (Although the codex was said to be in good condition when it was first discovered, this cannot be verified.) According to Rodolphe Kasser, the codex originally contained 31 pages, with writing on front and back; but when it came to the market in 1999, only 13 pages, with writing on front and back, remained. It is speculated that individual pages had been removed and sold. Rodolphe Kasser, philologist and archaeologist is one of the worlds leading Coptic scholars. ... First page of the Codex Argenteus A codex (Latin for block of wood, book; plural codices) is a handwritten book, in general, one produced from Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages. ...

It has been speculated, on the basis of textual analysis concerning features of dialect and Greek loan words, that the current Coptic fourth century text may be a translation from an older Greek manuscript dating to approximately AD 130–180.^[1] Cited in support is the reference to a “Gospel of Judas” by the early Christian writer Irenaeus of Lyons, who, in arguing against Gnosticism, called the text a "fictitious history" (Refutation of Gnosticism, bk. 1 ch. 31). However, it is uncertain whether this text mentioned by Irenaeus is in fact the same text as the Coptic “Gospel of Judas” of the extant fourth century text, and there remains no solid evidence for an early Greek version.^[2] Textual criticism or lower criticism is a branch of philology or bibliography that is concerned with the identification and removal of errors from texts. ... St. ...

A. J. Levine, who was on the team of scholars responsible for unveiling the work, emphatically stated that the Gospel of Judas tells nothing historical concerning Jesus or Judas.^[3] However, the text is helpful in reconstructing the history of Gnosticism, especially in Coptic-speaking areas.

Content

Ancient controversy

Irenaeus mentions a Gospel of Judas in his anti-Gnostic work Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies), written in about 180. He writes there are some who: Irenaeus (Greek: Ειρηναίος), ( 130–202) was bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, which is now Lyon, France. ... Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies) is the standard name of two books on Gnosticism and other Christian heresies. ...

declare that Cain derived his being from the Power above, and acknowledge that Esau, Korah, the Sodomites, and all such persons, are related to themselves. . .They declare that Judas the traitor was thoroughly acquainted with these things, and that he alone, knowing the truth as no others did, accomplished the mystery of the betrayal; by him all things, both earthly and heavenly, were thus thrown into confusion. They produce a fictional history of this kind, which they style the Gospel of Judas. ^[4]

This is in reference to the Cainites, an alleged sect of Gnosticism that especially worshipped Cain as a hero. Irenaeus alleged that the Cainites, like a large number of Gnostic groups, were semi-maltheists believing that the god of the Old Testament — Yahweh — was evil, and a quite different and much lesser being to the deity that had created the universe, and who was responsible for sending Jesus. Such Gnostic groups worshipped as heroes all the Biblical figures which had sought to discover knowledge or challenge Yahweh's authority, while demonizing those who would have been seen as heroes in a more orthodox interpretation. In stories common to the Abrahamic religions, Cain or Káyin (קַיִן / קָיִן spear Standard Hebrew Qáyin, Tiberian Hebrew Qáyin / Qāyin; Arabic قايين QāyÄ«n in the Arabic Bible; قابيل QābÄ«l in Islam) is the eldest son of Adam and Eve, and the first man born in creation... Esau (Hebrew ‎, Standard Hebrew Esav, Tiberian Hebrew Ēśāw) is the oldest son of Isaac and Rebekah and the twin brother of Jacob in the biblical Book of Genesis. ... Korah or Kórach (Hebrew: קֹרַח, Standard Tiberian ; Baldness; ice; hail; frost) is the name associated with at least two Biblical villains. ... The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, John Martin, 1832. ... The Cainites, or Cainians, were a Gnostic and Antinomian sect who were known to worship Cain as the first victim of the Demiurge Jehovah, the Old Testament God, who was identified by many groups of gnostics as evil. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Eutheism and dystheism are dialectic opposites within the spectrum of theistic religious beliefs. ... Phoenician silver drachm from ca. ...

The Gospel of Judas belongs to a school of Gnosticism called Sethianism, a group who looked to Adam's son Seth as their spiritual ancestor. As in other Sethian documents, Jesus is equated with Seth: "The first is Seth, who is called Christ" although this is in part of an emanationist mythology describing both positive and negative aeons. Sethian is also a Finnish progressive metal band. ... Seth or Shet (Hebrew: שֵׁת, Standard Å et, Tiberian ; Arabic: شيث Shith or Shiyth; Placed; appointed), in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible, is the third listed son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel and is the only other son mentioned by name. ... Emanationism is a component in the cosmology or cosmogony of certain religious or philosophical systems that argue that a sentient, self-aware Supreme Being, born from an unmanifested The Absolute (Root of Existence) beyond comprehension, emanated lower and lower spiritual modalities and lastly matter (the physical universe) as the resultant... The Latin word æon means forever. ...

For metaphysical reasons, the Sethian Gnostics authors of this text maintained that Judas acted as he did in order that mankind might be redeemed by the death of Jesus' mortal body. For this reason, they regarded Judas as worthy of gratitude and veneration. The Gospel of Judas does not describe any events after the arrest of Jesus. Plato and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome). ...

By contrast, the canonical Gospel of John, unlike the synoptic gospels, asserts that Jesus said to Judas, as the latter left the Last Supper to set in motion the betrayal process, "Do quickly what you have to do." (John 13:27) (trans. The New English Bible). Interpretations include: this was a direct command to Judas to do what he did; Jesus was speaking to Satan rather than to Judas (thus "Satan entered into Judas"); or Jesus knew what Judas was secretly plotting. The Gospel of John is the fourth gospel in the canon of the New Testament, traditionally ascribed to John the Evangelist. ... The Synoptic Gospels is a term used by modern New Testament scholars for the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke of the New Testament in the Bible. ... The Last Supper was the last meal Jesus shared with his apostles before his death. ...

Some two centuries after Irenaeus' complaint, Epiphanius of Salamis, bishop of Cyprus, criticized the Gospel of Judas for treating as commendable the person whom he saw as the betrayer of Jesus, and as one who "performed a good work for our salvation." (Haeres., xxxviii). Epiphanius (ca 310–20 – 403) was a Church Father, a heresiologist who was a strong defender of orthodoxy, known for tracking down deviant teachings (heresies) wherever they could be traced, during the troubled era in the Christian Church following the Council of Nicaea. ...

Modern rediscovery

This article or section needs to be updated. Parts of this article or section have been identified as no longer being up to date. Please update the article to reflect recent events, and remove this template when finished.

The initial translation of the Gospel of Judas was widely publicized but simply confirmed the account that was written in Irenaeus and known Gnostic beliefs, leading some scholars to simply summarize the discovery as nothing new. Image File history File links Current_event_marker. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

However, it is argued that a closer reading of the existent text, as presented in October 2006, shows that Judas may have been set up to actually betray Jesus out of wrath and anger:

"Truly [I] say to you, Judas, [those who] offer sacrifices to Saklas [... exemplify ...] everything that is evil. But you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me. Already your horn has been raised, your wrath has been kindled, your star has shown brightly, and your heart has [been hardened...]"

The initial translators might have been misled by Irenaeus' summary, which although an exciting idea was not necessarily accurate. Their theory is now in dispute.

According to Elaine Pagels, Bible translators have mistranslated the Greek word for "handing over" to "betrayal".[1] There is a different Greek word for "betrayal", so the original "handing over" should have been applied to make the text read correctly. The Greek word for "handing over" is used in the original texts of the bible in the letters of Paul and the Gospel of Mark. This means that the whole idea of Jesus dying for the sins of humanity doesn't correspond with the theology of Paul and Mark.^{[citation needed]} Elaine Pagels (née Hiesey, born February 13, 1943), is the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University. ... Saint Paulus the Apostle (born circa. ... The Gospel of Mark (anonymous[1] but ascribed to Mark the Evangelist) is a Gospel of the New Testament. ...

The text below is out of date.

Like many Gnostic works, the Gospel of Judas claims to be a secret account, specifically "the secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot."

Over the ages many philosophers have contemplated the idea that Judas was required to have carried out his actions in order for Jesus to have died on the cross and hence fulfill theological obligations. The Gospel of Judas, however, asserts clearly that Judas' action was in obedience to a direct command of Jesus himself.

The Gospel of Judas states that Jesus told Judas "You shall be cursed for generations" and then added, "You will come to rule over them" and "You will exceed all of them, for you will sacrifice the man that clothes me." ^[5]

Unlike the four canonical gospels, which employ narrative accounts of the last year of life of Jesus (in the case of John, three years) and of his birth (in the case of Luke and Matthew), the Judas gospel takes the form of dialogues between Jesus and Judas, and Jesus and the twelve disciples, without being embedded in any narrative or worked into any overt philosophical or rhetorical context. Such "dialogue gospels" were popular during the early decades of Christianity, and indeed the four canonical gospels are the only surviving gospels in narrative form. The New Testament apocrypha contains several examples of the dialogue form, an example being the Gospel of Mary Magdalene. Philosophy (from the Greek words philos and sophia meaning love of wisdom) is understood in different ways historically and by different philosophers. ... Rhetoric (from Greek ρητωρ, rhêtôr, orator) is one of the three original liberal arts or trivium (the other members are dialectic and grammar). ... The Gospel of Mary Magdalene was found in the Akhmim Codex, a gnostic text of the New Testament apocrypha acquired by Dr. Rheinhardt in Cairo in 1896. ...

Like the canonical gospels, the Gospel of Judas portrays the scribes as approaching Judas with the intention of arresting him, and Judas receiving money from them after handing Jesus over to them. But unlike Judas in the canonical gospels, who is portrayed as a villain, and excoriated by Jesus ("Alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born," Mark 14:21; Matthew 26:24, trans. The New English Bible), the Judas gospel portrays Judas as a divinely appointed instrument of a grand and predetermined purpose. "In the last days they will curse your ascent to the holy (generation)."

Elsewhere in the manuscript, Jesus favours Judas above other disciples by saying, "Step away from the others and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom," and "Look, you have been told everything. Lift up your eyes and look at the cloud and the light within it and the stars surrounding it. The star that leads the way is your star."

In the New Testament, Judas is said to have died by hanging himself in the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew 27:3-10, and by bursting open after a fall in the Book of Acts, Acts 1:16-19). The Gospel of Judas does not agree with the account, but claims rather that Judas was stoned to death by the remaining eleven disciples.

Rediscovery

Origins

"The Kiss of Judas" is a traditional depiction of Judas by Giotto di Bondone, c. 1306. Fresco in the Scrovegni Chapel, Padua.

The content of the gospel had been unknown until a Coptic Gospel of Judas turned up on the antiquities "grey market," in Geneva in May 1983, when it was found among a mixed group of Greek and Coptic manuscripts offered to Stephen Emmel, a Yale Ph.D. candidate commissioned by Southern Methodist University to inspect the manuscripts. How this manuscript, Codex Tchacos, was found has not been clearly documented. However, it is believed that a now-deceased Egyptian "treasure-hunter" or prospector discovered the codex near El Minya, Egypt, in the neighbourhood of the village Beni Masar, and sold it to one Hanna, a dealer in antiquities resident in Cairo. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (904x814, 223 KB) Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337), Cappella Scrovegni a Padova, Life of Christ, Kiss of Judas File links The following pages link to this file: Gospel of Judas Cappella degli Scrovegni ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (904x814, 223 KB) Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337), Cappella Scrovegni a Padova, Life of Christ, Kiss of Judas File links The following pages link to this file: Gospel of Judas Cappella degli Scrovegni ... Statue of Giotto di Bondone, close to the Uffizi. ... Cappella degli Scrovegni The Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padua (also known as the Arena Chapel) is regarded as one of the masterpieces of Western Art. ... Tronco Maestro Riviera: a pedestrian walk along a section of the inland waterway or naviglio interno of Padua. ... Coptic is the most recent phase of ancient Egyptian. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Hunters a cool hobo For other uses, see Geneva (disambiguation). ... Coptic is the most recent phase of ancient Egyptian. ... “Yale” redirects here. ... Dallas Hall at Dedman College at SMU The Laura Lee Blanton Hall during a rare snow Southern Methodist University (also known as SMU) is a private, coeducational university in University Park, Texas, (an enclave of Dallas). ... The Codex Tchacos is an ancient Egyptian Coptic papyrus document containing early Christian Gnostic texts: The Gospel of Judas The First Apocalypse of James The Letter of Peter to Philip A fragment of Allogenes It is important because it contains the first known surviving text of the Gospel of Judas... First page of the Codex Argenteus A codex (Latin for block of wood, book; plural codices) is a handwritten book, in general, one produced from Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages. ... Al Minya Al Minya is a city in Egypt. ...

Around 1970, the manuscript and most of the dealer's other artifacts were stolen by a Greek trader named Nikolas Koutoulakis, and smuggled into Geneva. Hanna, in collusion with Swiss antiquity traders, recovered the manuscript and introduced it to experts who recognized its significance.

Sale and study

During the following two decades the manuscript was quietly offered to prospective buyers, but no major library felt ready to purchase a manuscript that had such questionable provenance. In 2003 Michel van Rijn started to publish material about these dubious negotiations, and eventually the 62-page leather bound codex was purchased by the Maecenas Foundation in Basel, a private foundation directed by lawyer Mario Jean Roberty. The previous owners now claimed that it had been uncovered at Muhafazat al Minya in Egypt during the 1950s or 1960s, and that its significance had not been appreciated until recently. It is worth noting that various other locations had been alleged during previous negotiations. Provenance is the origin or source from which anything comes. ... First page of the Codex Argenteus A codex (Latin for block of wood, book; plural codices) is a handwritten book, in general, one produced from Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages. ... The Maecenas Foundation is a Swiss foundation whose sole officer is Mario Roberty, a Swiss Attorney. ... Basel (British English traditionally: Basle and more recently Basel , German: Basel , French: Bâle , Italian: Basilea ) is Switzerlands third most populous city (166,563 inhabitants (2004); 690,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area stretching across the immediate cantonal and national boundaries made Basel Switzerlands second-largest urban area... Al Minya (Arabic: محافظة المنيا ) is one of the governorates of Upper Egypt. ...

The existence of the text was made public by Rodolphe Kasser at a conference of Coptic specialists in Paris, July 2004. In a statement issued March 30, 2005, a spokesman for the Maecenas Foundation announced plans for edited translations into English, French and German, once the fragile papyrus has undergone conservation by a team of specialists in Coptic history to be led by a former professor at the University of Geneva, Rodolphe Kasser, and that their work would be published in about a year. A. J. Tim Jull, director of the National Science Foundation Arizona AMS laboratory, and Gregory Hodgins, assistant research scientist, announced that a radiocarbon dating procedure had dated five samples from the papyrus manuscript from 220 to 340 in January of 2005 at the University of Arizona.^[6] This puts the Coptic manuscript in the third or fourth centuries, a century earlier than had originally been thought from analysis of the script. In January 2006, Gene A. Ware of the Papyrological Imaging Lab of Brigham Young University conducted a multi-spectral imaging process on the texts in Switzerland, and confirmed their authenticity.^[7] Rodolphe Kasser, philologist and archaeologist is one of the worlds leading Coptic scholars. ... March 30 is the 89th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (90th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Papyrus plant Cyperus papyrus at Kew Gardens, London Papyrus is an early form of paper produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt. ... The University of Geneva (Université de Genève) is one of the oldest universities in the world. ... Rodolphe Kasser, philologist and archaeologist is one of the worlds leading Coptic scholars. ... The logo of the National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. ... The University of Arizona (UA or U of A) is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. ... Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU), located in Provo, Utah, is the flagship university of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). ...

Over the decades, the manuscript had been handled with less than sympathetic care: some single pages may be loose on the antiquities market (one half page turned up in Feb. 2006, in New York City^[7]); the text is now in over a thousand pieces and fragments, and is believed to be less than three-quarters complete. "After concluding the research, everything will be returned to Egypt. The work belongs there and they will be conserved in the best way," Roberty has stated.^[8] New York, NY redirects here. ...

In April of 2006, an Ohio bankruptcy lawyer claimed to possess several small, brown bits of papyrus from the Gospel of Judas, but he refuses to have the fragments authenticated and his claim is being viewed with skepticism by experts.^[9] Official language(s) None Capital Columbus Largest city Columbus Largest metro area Cleveland Area  Ranked 34th  - Total 44,825 sq mi (116,096 km²)  - Width 220 miles (355 km)  - Length 220 miles (355 km)  - % water 8. ...

Responses and reactions

Scholarly debates

Professor Kasser revealed a few details about the text in 2004, the Dutch paper Parool reported.^[10] Its language is the same Sahidic dialect of Coptic in which Coptic texts of the Nag Hammadi Library are written. The codex has four parts: the Letter of Peter to Philip, already known from the Nag Hammadi Library; the First Apocalypse of James, also known from the Nag Hammadi Library; the first few pages of a work related to, but not the same as, the Nag Hammadi work Allogenes; and the Gospel of Judas. Up to a third of the codex is currently illegible. Coptic is the most recent phase of ancient Egyptian. ... The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts discovered near the Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. ... The Letter of Peter to Philip found in the cache of texts at Nag Hammadi (bound into Codex VIII), contains a brief letter purporting to be from Saint Peter to Saint Philip, followed by a narrative and gnostic discourse upon the nature of Christ. ... Introduction The First Apocalypse (which means revelation or vision) of James, part of the New Testament apocrypha, was first discovered amongst 52 other Gnostic Christian texts spread over 13 Codices by an Arab peasant, Mohammad Ali al-Samman, in the Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi late in December 1945. ...

A scientific paper was to be published in 2005, but was delayed. The completion of the restoration and translation was announced by the National Geographic Society at a news conference in Washington, D.C. on April 6, 2006, and the manuscript itself was unveiled then at the National Geographic Society headquarters, accompanied by a television special entitled The Gospel of Judas on April 9, 2006, which was aired on the National Geographic Channel. Flag of the National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, is a not-for-profit scientific organization based in the United States. ... Nickname: DC, The District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: Country United States Federal District District of Columbia Government  - Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D)  - City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D... April 6 is the 96th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (97th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... April 9 is the 99th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (100th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... The National Geographic Channel is a subscription television network that features documentaries produced by the National Geographic Society. ...

Terry Garcia, an executive vice president of the National Geographic Society, asserted that the codex is considered by scholars and scientists to be the most significant ancient, non-biblical text to be found since the 1940s. However, James M. Robinson, one of America's leading experts on ancient religious texts, predicted that the new book would offer no historical insights into the disciple who betrayed Jesus, since the third-century manuscript seems to derive from an older document. Robinson suggests that the text will provide insights into the religion situation during the the second century rather than into the biblical narrative itself. James M. Robinson is Professor Emeritus of Religion, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California. ...

National Geographic, in a reply to Robinson's criticism, characterized the latter's remarks as "ironic" since he had "for years tried unsuccessfully to acquire the codex himself, and is publishing his own book in April 2006, despite having no direct access to the materials."

Robinson has described the two decades of secretive manoeuvres in the United States, Switzerland, Greece to sell the Judas manuscript,^[11] while a novel by Simon Mawer, The Gospel of Judas (published in 2000 (UK) and 2001 (US)), revolves around the discovery of a Gospel of Judas in a Dead Sea cave and its effect on a scholarly priest. Simon Mawer (born 1948, England) is a British author. ... The Dead Sea (Arabic: ‎, Hebrew: ‎) is the Earths lowest point not covered by ice, at 418 m (1371 feet) below sea level and falling,[2] and the deepest hypersaline lake in the world, at 330 m (1083 feet) deep. ...

Many believe that Robinson is bitter about his exclusion from the project and the inclusion of his his younger apprentice, Marvin Meyer, a Biblical Studies professor at Chapman University in Orange, California, whose work was intergral to the translation of the coptic text. When Meyer informed Robinson that he was aware of the contents of the Gospel of Judas but was constrained from discussing the subject, Robinson was, as he admits, angry. Speaking of himself in the third person, Robinson has said: "James was just angry that National Geographic didn't include him in their project... After 40 years in the limelight, James doesn't want to give it up. But the truth is, James is on the way out, and Marvin is on the way up" (qtd. in LA Times).

One scholar on the National Geographic project believes the document shows that Judas was "fooled" into believing he was helping Jesus.^[12]

Religious responses

In his 2006 Easter address, Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, strongly denied the historical credibility of the gospel, saying, "This is a demonstrably late text which simply parallels a large number of quite well-known works from the more eccentric fringes of the early century Church." He went on to suggest that the book's publicity derives from an insatiable desire for conspiracy theories: For the English boxer, see Rowan Anthony Williams. ... The Archbishop of Canterbury is the spiritual leader and senior clergyman of the Church of England, recognized by convention as the head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ...

"We are instantly fascinated by the suggestion of conspiracies and cover-ups; this has become so much the stuff of our imagination these days that it is only natural, it seems, to expect it when we turn to ancient texts, especially biblical texts. We treat them as if they were unconvincing press releases from some official source, whose intention is to conceal the real story; and that real story waits for the intrepid investigator to uncover it and share it with the waiting world. Anything that looks like the official version is automatically suspect."

Later the same year, Biblical scholar Louis Painchaud argued that the text suggests Judas was actually possessed by a demon;^[13] It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Daemon (mythology). ...

The uniqueness of the codex

The president of the Maecenas Foundation, Mario Roberty, suggested the possibility that the Maecenas Foundation had acquired not the only extant copy of the Gospel, but rather the only known copy. Roberty went on to make the suggestion that the Vatican probably had another copy locked away, saying: The Maecenas Foundation is a Swiss foundation whose sole officer is Mario Roberty, a Swiss Attorney. ... The Maecenas Foundation is a Swiss foundation whose sole officer is Mario Roberty, a Swiss Attorney. ...

"In those days the Church decided for political reasons to include the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the Bible. The other gospels were banned. It is highly logical that the Catholic Church would have kept a copy of the forbidden gospels. Sadly, the Vatican does not want to clarify further. Their policy has been the same for years – 'No further comment.'^[14]

Roberty provided no evidence to suggest that the Vatican does, in fact, possess any additional copy and the contents of one part of the Vatican library have been catalogued and have long been available to researchers and scholars. The remainder of the library is, however, without a public catalogue, and though researchers may view any work within, they must first name the text they require, a serious problem for those who do not know what is contained by the library. The Pope responded on April 13, 2006^[15]- April 13 is the 103rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (104th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

The Vatican, by word of Pope Benedict XVI, grants the recently surfaced Judas' Gospel no credit with regards to its apocryphal claims that Judas betrayed Jesus in compliance with the latter's own requests. According to the Pope, Judas freely chose to betray Jesus: "an open rejection of God's love". Judas, according to Pope Benedict XVI "viewed Jesus in terms of power and success: his only real interests lied with his power and success, there was no love involved. He was a greedy man: money was more important than communing with Jesus; money came before God and his love". According to the Pope it was due to these traits that led Judas to "turn liar, two-faced, indifferent to the truth", "losing any sense of God", "turning hard, incapable of converting, of being the prodigal son, hence throwing away a spent existence".

Spokespersons say the Vatican does not wish to suppress the Gospel of Judas; rather, according to Monsignor Walter Brandmuller, president of the Vatican's Committee for Historical Science, "We welcome the [manuscript] like we welcome the critical study of any text of ancient literature".^[16] Even more explicitly, Father Thomas D. Williams, Dean of Theology at the Regina Apostolorum university in Rome, when asked:

Is it true that the Catholic Church has tried to cover up this text [Gospel of Judas] and other apocryphal texts?

answered as follows:

These are myths circulated by Dan Brown and other conspiracy theorists. You can go to any Catholic bookstore and pick up a copy of the Gnostic gospels. Christians may not believe them to be true, but there is no attempt to hide them.^[17]

In AD 367, the bishop of Alexandria did urge Christians to “cleanse the church from every defilement” and to reject “the hidden books.”^[18] It is possible that, in response to letters such as this one, some Christians destroyed non-canonical gospels. Dan Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author of thriller fiction, best known for the controversial 2003 bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. ...

According to the Gospel, Judas was the only of Jesus’ followers to fully understand the Gnostic teachings: "Knowing that Judas was reflecting upon something that was exalted, Jesus said to him: Step away from the others and I shall tell you the mysteries of the Kingdom. It is possible for you to reach it, but you will grieve a great deal. For someone else will replace you, in order that the twelve disciples may again come to completion with their God." The Kingdom of Heaven (or the Kingdom of God, Hebrew מלכות השמים, malkhut hashamayim, Greek basileia tou theou) is a key concept detailed in all the three major monotheistic religions of the world — Islam, Judaism and Christianity. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ...

The Gospel of Judas goes even further, showing Jesus in various instances criticizing the other disciples for their ignorance and their followers of immorality.

When they tell Jesus about a vision, he points out its true meaning as follows: "Those you have seen receiving the offerings at the altar — that is who you are. That is the God you serve, and you are those twelve men you have seen. The cattle you saw brought for sacrifice are the many people you lead astray before that altar. (. . .) will stand and make use of my name in this way, and generations of the pious will remain loyal to Him."

Notes

The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a major cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... April 9 is the 99th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (100th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... April 20 is the 110th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (111th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). ... CBC redirects here, as this is the most common use of the abbreviation. ... December 4th redirects here. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... April 22 is the 112th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (113th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... April 13 is the 103rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (104th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... February 25 is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... April 5 is the 95th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (96th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (127th in leap years). ...

References

• The Gospel of Judas. Trans. and Eds. Rodolphe Kasser, Marvin Meyer, and Gregor Wurst. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2006. [English Translation], ISBN 1-4262-0042-0
• The Gospel of Judas. Eds. Rodolphe Kasser, Marvin Meyer, and Gregor Wurst. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2006. [Coptic Transcription]
• James M. Robinson, The Secrets of Judas : The Story of the Misunderstood Disciple and His Lost Gospel (2006 HarperSanFrancisco)
• Gregory A. Page, Diary of Judas Iscariot of the Gospel According to Judas (1912, reprinted 1942, Kessinger Publishing)
• Lars Gyllensten, Testament of Cain (1963 Bonnier, Stockholm, Sweden; English translation in 1982, Persea)
• Elaine Pagels and Karen L. King, Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity (2007), ISBN 978-0670038459

Lars Johan Wictor Gyllensten (born 12 November 1921 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish author and physician and a member of the Swedish Academy. ... Elaine Pagels (née Hiesey, born February 13, 1943), is the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University. ...

See also

• Nag Hammadi Library Nag Hammadi
• The Passover Plot (1965), a book by the Biblical scholar Hugh J. Schonfield
• Tres versiones de Judas (1944), a short story by Jorge Luis Borges (from the collection Ficciones) in which a fictional Swedish theologian claims that Judas is the real savior of mankind
• The Last Temptation of Christ (1951), a novel (and movie) by Nikos Kazantzakis that depicts Judas in a similar vein to the Gospel of Judas
• The Way of Cross and Dragon (1979), a short story by George R. R. Martin that includes a fictional Gospel of Judas
• The Judas Testament (1994), a novel by Daniel Easterman about the discovery of a Judas testament
• The Gospel According to Judas (2007), a novel by Jeffrey Archer and Frank Moloney that presents the events of the New Testament through the eyes of Judas Iscariot

The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts discovered near the Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. ... The town of Nag Hammadi in Egypt Nag Hammâdi (Arabic نجع حمادي; transliterated: Naj Hammādi) (26°03′N 32°15′E), is a town in the middle of Egypt, called Chenoboskion in classical antiquity, about 80 kilometres north-west of Luxor with some 30,000 citizens. ... The Passover Plot (ISBN 1852308362) is the name of a controversial, best-selling book (©1965), by British Biblical scholar Hugh J. Schonfield. ... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library of Congress. ... Dr. Hugh J. Schonfield was a British Bible scholar specializing in the New Testament and the early development of the Christian religion and church. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Jorge Luis Borges (August 24, 1899 – June 14, 1986), was an Argentine writer who is considered one of the foremost literary figures of the 20th century. ... The Last Temptation of Christ, (in Greek O Teleutaios Peirasmos, Ο Τελευταίος Πειρασμός) also published as The Last Temptation, is a novel written by Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in 1951. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as... Nikos Kazantzakis (Greek: Νίκος Καζαντζάκης) (February 18, 1883, Heraklion, Crete, Greece - October 26, 1957, Freiburg, Germany), author of poems, novels, essays, plays, and travel books, was arguably the most important and most translated Greek writer and philosopher of the 20th century. ... The Way of Cross and Dragon is a short story by George R. R. Martin. ... George Raymond Richard Martin (sometimes called GRRM, born September 20, 1948 in Bayonne, New Jersey) is an American author and screenwriter of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. ... The Judas Testament is a pejorative term referring to any hypothetical and apocryphal gospel written by an apostle of the historical Jesus or Jesus himself that would severely call into question the historicity of the words and acts attributed to Jesus in the New Testament and create great dismay amongst... Denis M. MacEoin PhD (b. ... The word Testament can mean more than one thing: Old Testament; contains and describes the written terms and conditions of the oral Old Covenant, between the patriarch Abram from Ur in Mesopotamia, renamed Abraham, and his descendants; and YHWH, the God of the Hebrew tribe; part of which was mediated... A 2007 novel by Jeffrey Archer and Frank Moloney which presents the events of the New Testament through the eyes of Judas Iscariot. ... Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English author and former politician. ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Gospel of Judas

• The Gospel of Judas, English and Italian Text - HTML Format
• The Lost Gospel - online feature from National Geographic, including
• Rev. Fr. Abraam Sleman, Refuting the Gospel of Judas - An in depth article refuting the Gospel of Judas historically and biblically by a reverend of the Coptic Church.
• Coptic text, English translation, and photos
• The Gospel of Judas- Clips from the 2006 National Geographic documentary
• Early Christian Writings: Gospel of Judas
• Patrick Baert, "Gospel of Judas back in spotlight after 20 centuries"
• Judas stars as 'anti-hero' in gospel - Julia Duin, Washington Times - April 7, 2006
• The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot? - NPR
• Gnostic Gospel of Judas The Gnostic perspective
• The Coptic Gospel of Judas (Iscariot): The story behind the story, and details of the black market dealings. Also unofficial in-progress translations have surfaced on this site as of April 2005, including part of Allogenes.
• Eric Mader, "Contrarian Thoughts on the Gospel of Judas"
• Rodney J. Decker on the Gospel of Judas sensation (PDF, audio, and PowerPoint)
• Michel van Rijn, "The Hunt for the Gospel of Judas"
• Research Guide to the Judas Gospel
• The Gospel of Judas: The Manuscript and its Gnostic Heresies by Dr. Gregory S. Neal
• Gospel of Judas does not deserve name 'gospel,' Jesuit scholar says
• Gospel of Judas - Gnostic gospel or lost book of the Bible?
• Overview of "Gnosticism" from the Catholic Encyclopedia
• Overview of "Cainites" from the Catholic Encyclopedia
• The Gospel of Judas by Jacob Prasch Moriel Ministries
• Text of Irenaeus, Against Heresies, regarding Gospel of Judas
• Grammar of alternate Coptic dialect
• Survey of Early Reaction to the Gospel of Judas - 100 citations
• "The Betrayer's Gospel" -- Excellent article from the New York Review of Books